eBay

denial*is*not*a*river*in*egypt · ‎11-10-2013

After I successfully processed a PayPal payment on November 1st, PayPal informed me that to satisfy the requirements of the Canadian Government it needed to confirm the identity of each of its Canadian members. This was done by simply answering a few questions confirming information that was already online.

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I passed the first question without a problem. I must have made a typo on the second set because I FAILED. I can't remember the exact questions, but they were pretty basic things like date of birth, address, etc. That's why I said I must have made a typo. But I have no idea even of where I made the mistake because PayPal didn't give me another chance to answer. It just told me I failed and because of that failure, my account was frozen and I'll have to jump through hoops to get them to release it. I already sent them copies of my 2 most recent bank statement - showing PayPal payments that they could even look up. I also sent a copy of my hydro bill for further confirmation of my address.

Now they want a copy of my driver's license and "an attestation by a guarantor." Excuse me? After more than 2,000 transactions over the last 10 years without a single problem - they want an "attestation by a guarantor?" Oh I mis-wrote - there were two payments denied at the beginning of this week, regular pre-authorized payments totaling less than $40. Thank you so much, PayPal.

Has anybody else had to fill in this identity thing with PayPal since November 1st? Has anybody else had problems with it? I came here expecting to see lots of complaints and there's not even one other. Now I'm REALLY nervous! lol

maximus7001 · ‎02-14-2016

With this being 2016 someone that still does not know how to spot a fake email should not have a computer or even use one. They are going to get burned every time and blame it on "hackers" when it was their own fault again.

Being in the computer industry since 1984 I know this for a fact and see it all the time.

femmefan1946 · ‎02-25-2016

Forward the email to

SPOOF@PAYPAL .COM

They will confirm that it is a fake.

This happens often enough that the process of checking these scams is fully automated.

gorilla-scales · ‎03-03-2016

This is not a spoof folks.. the issue is in gigantic yellow box on top of paypal resolution center. This is tax season and CRA wants to confirm everybody is claiming full amount from paypal income.

pierrelebel · ‎03-03-2016

" gigantic yellow box on top of paypal resolution center. "

I do not see such yellow box.

Are you sure you are logged in at paypal.ca

gorilla-scales · ‎03-03-2016

@pierrelebel wrote:
" gigantic yellow box on top of paypal resolution center. "

I do not see such yellow box.

Are you sure you are logged in at paypal.ca

Pierre, its not for every account holder, just accounts they flagged as possibly having out of date business info. I can assure you that I am logged into paypal.com

gorilla-scales · ‎03-03-2016

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-03-2016

That page doesn't say what sort of info they want..is it just confirming your identity and does it specify that it is for the CRA?

pierrelebel · ‎03-03-2016

"This is tax season and CRA wants to confirm everybody is claiming full amount from paypal income."

NOWHERE does it state that.

And yes it is tax season and all Canadians are expected to report their worldwide income on their tax return.

While PayPal does send tax forms to American sellers, it does not in Canada although its books are available to CRA of course.

gorilla-scales · ‎03-04-2016

No it does not state that on that page, I cut the bottom part off because it wouldn't show the entire page in my browser window.. it has two sections below that ask for business registration information and payment details. Point is that this email was not a spoof or a phishing scam. It is definitely paypal. I'm not going to argue whether or not they should have this data on file, but they will not allow me to continue business without updating it.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎03-04-2016

I received a call from PayPal that I have 6 days to provide Proof of Business Registration and Website details.

My PayPal Resolution also shows the time limit in which I have to provide the following, failing which my account will become restricted.

I have to provide Proof of Business Registration to insure that my business is licensed or registered in my industry. The document cannot be more than 6 months old.

I also have to provide website details and access information. Website URL to confirm my products, pricing and the checkout process. Also provide user name and password to enter the site or to enter a staging site, if applicable.

Failure to do so will result in my account being restricted. Then it goes on to list what I can and cannot do while my account is "Limited" . Is that the same as "Restricted"? In that case I will not be able to close my account.

Funny thing is, it asks for my URL to Etsy. I never had more than $10,000 in sales a year and I did not accept PayPal payments for Etsy. Recently Etsy added PayPal but my payments still come through Etsy's Payment forwarding and are deposited to my bank account..

I don't feel comfortable with any of this. I asked PayPal the reason for this and the answer was that its because of the volume I am doing. I find it ridiculous that after having at least $2 million dollars go through my account in sales and purchases in the past 11 years, they need check up on me.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎03-04-2016

Its seems that not all the requests are the same.

The phone call I received came from PayPal. Then I got an email. Then it showed up on my PayPal account under resolutions.

You don't need a licence to sell on eBay. Only professional activities need a licence.

You don't need to register a business to sell on eBay. I have registered at the advice of Customs, because they don't have to charge sales tax on items coming into the country if you are a business.

I have a GST registration, but again, you do not need to have a registered business to get one.

Why would I need to provide PayPal with my URL as to where I sell? They can see that when payments come through. They can also see my user name in the payment information.

They don't need my password to access information about what I sell. They can go to where I sell, type in my user name and get all the info.

eBay always tell us NEVER to give our password to anyone.

SOMETHING AWFULLY WRONG HERE

ypdc_dennis · ‎03-05-2016

paypal is an American company and it is the IRS that turns their knobs/screws.

You're tacking on to a thread from 3 years ago that was about a SPOOF.

Your issue sounds like the real thing. And really deserves a NEW thread.

Don't trust emails or phone calls for this sort of stuff, only the information inside the paypal site that you viewed directly (not through a link in an email). And you might want to update your password(s).

The IRS does have reporting requirements (for non-American's it's usually proving you're not American). And they are quite willing to strong arm companies and banks into providing it (most Canadian banks had their arms twisted a couple of years ago to cough up deposit information or have their status downgraded to a money-laundering bank).

-.-

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-05-2016

When you signed up with this ID, was ebay.ca around or did you originally sign up for .com? If it is the latter, perhaps there is a misunderstanding with the IRS asking for the information and not realizing where you are located? That's obviously just a guess but the info they are asking for does seem really odd.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎03-05-2016

I signed up in 2004. There was no PayPal at the time, only paypal.com

All the Canadian account holders were later moved to paypal.ca

These questions are not from eBay, they are from PayPal.

I have been very active since 2004, buying and selling with this account. Why now?

gorilla-scales · ‎03-09-2016

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
I signed up in 2004. There was no PayPal at the time, only paypal.com
All the Canadian account holders were later moved to paypal.ca

These questions are not from eBay, they are from PayPal.
I have been very active since 2004, buying and selling with this account. Why now?

I guess only the people who've received this type of contact from paypal will understand that it is legit. Everyone seems to think we are internet newbs getting taken by a spoof. It seems that they have asked for slightly different info of your business than they did of mine; nothing about the URLs or login info at all. I don't think I would hand that over.

A bit more digging into this found that they are mainly concerned with money laundering. They want to know the flow of the money. In and out. I am assuming this is due to pressure from the CRA. I do most of my business in the US in USD. Perhaps that is what flagged my account, I dont know.

slamsell · ‎04-19-2016

I'm on the same boat, My business account has been restricted and they ask me for my business documentation. I sent them the document and also the link for the governement website of registre des entreprises. It's all the same informations as my paypal and bank account. And they keep declining my documents and keep saying they cant accept it because it is an screenshot but it's a scanned documents.

Even after providing ID, PASSPORT to proove that I'm the real owner of the business. They still keep declining, they are really slowing me down for no reason and it has been 3 weeks and I still don't understand what they need from me !

kawaii-in-pink · ‎05-02-2016

I have the same problem right now. I tried to transfer a moderate sum of money (1000$USD - not that much) and for some reason it raised a red flag although I've done it in the past no problem and I have my account since 2008. Filled the page asking to verify my identity and now it says FAILED, even though I filled it correctly. I might have made a silly typo on the address or what not.

Now they want a doctor to sign some stuff like my passport or ID or I dunno, or they will limit my account. For now I was able to transfer my money still but what will happen now if I don't provide them the documents? My account does not seem limited right now but I don't know what's happening. I have the yellow notification icon at the top of my account but it doesn't say how many days I have to provide the papers or what will happen next. I don't have any proof of address since I don't pay any bills with my address so I can't verify my address, only my name and birth date. My bank is linked to them since 2008 so I don't understand what they want. Are they doing this for the tax reports or what? I don't get it.

pierrelebel · ‎05-02-2016

"I don't pay any bills with my address so I can't verify my address"

Do you have a copy of a bank statement or credit card statement or paystub or a T4 addressed to your LaSalle address? That would do.

kawaii-in-pink · ‎05-02-2016

I think I might have but they are from more than 6 months ago, I wonder if they would accept them. The weird thing is the notification in my paypal account says if I don't confirm my identity, my account will remain limited. However when I check my account, it does not seem limited. I can still still do everything. Really weird.

Edit: I just realized the notification appeared not when I transfered my money, but when I tried to lift my limit to increase the 999$ limit. I don't know if that made a difference, why did this particular thing raised a red flag.